It seems to be a better sled...
I rode the new sled in Island Park also, maybe in the same group as you. This is a different sled for sure. To look at it, it looks just like the photos on the polaris web site. The running boards have bigger holes to get rid of the snow better. When your sitting on the sled, the fit and finish is so much more contoured for your knees, meaning that your not slamming into anything. It also helps when your corning, which by the way they redesigned the foot stirups. To me it felt like the older chasis where you could lean into a corner and hook your foot for leverage without dropping your opposite knee to the running boards as some may have to with the current IQ. I felt like the shocks were better than the older WE that came on sled before, (but I run Zbroz shocks so I am bias to those). I believe the trail ride is better as it seemed to soak up bumps with the coil over. The front shocks are adjustable to your style. Power felt about the same as the previous sleds as we had some 2010 to ride and compare to. The reps couldn't talk about the motor as they said they have to wait till the dealer shows. The clutching seems a bit soft to me, but this is relative as I like an arm yanking pull all the way though. The can is said to be lighter that reminded me of a oversized kidney. The brake comes through the chaincase. The air box is now contained as far as I could tell. The light adjustment is not part of the air box as it was before injesting snow in it. The track is the same track as last year. The snow flap is ported... the rear bumper is a carbon fiber with billet mounting arms. The front bumper is a different bumper. The motor sits in an A frame type sit up (similar to another sled). The bulk head is all cast aluminum that is split and it bolts together and bolts to the rest of the tunnel. The one thing of concern is how the shock mounts to the cast bulkhead. It could be an issue to replace half the bulkhead if the shock mount broke from the cast. There is a new gauge, key position is by the gauge, taillight, and headlight. There is not really a hood that pops up. There are a couple of screws to undo and the "top hood cover" lifts off. They were unsure of warrantys as the question was asked. In my opinion, the sled was easier to side hill, layover, carve, jump (we found a few good kickers out of sight), and handling was predictable as mentioned. I wish we could have found some good hills to climb for some of us that live on the slopes rather than the rolling hills we were on yesterday. We need to really tax the motor and clutching to see what it will react to in the steep and deep. All in All I was impressed with the sled and the direction it is being taken. Now to see what warranties are going to be like...?
